The following history was submitted by one of our PAC members and Day Program participant, Mr. Richard Cotton

I have had a brain tumour removed and survived. I have had a stroke and developed brain fog and aphasia. While in the hospital for my stroke, they did an MRI and told me I had vascular dementia. This was overwhelming, and they all walked away after they told me about my condition with no information on what to expect, and how to deal with it. I am richer, and I am still me.

I have been knocked out nine times in my life. In the nineties I had attacks of vertigo that were so severe that I had to lay down and hold my head until it passed. Many times, I was down on the floor. People would want to call an ambulance. I saw many doctors and had almost no results. They sent me to ENT specialist who decided I had no problems even though I was having vertigo and losing my hearing in my left ear. Oh, my hearing loss progressed over the years and the vertigo attacks kept happening. I started to experience balance problems and tend to fall to the left. By 2000 I was experiencing brain fog. I was getting nauseous and dizzy. I had a heart attack and went into the hospital, and they inserted a stent. While this fixed my heart life my vestibular problems persisted. I saw an ENT doctor and she said I was fine and showed no symptoms. Eventually, my doctor sent me for an MRI of my left head. Home, they found I had an acoustic neuroma and gave me options. One was to do nothing. One was to have the tumour radiologically exposed to freeze it and it would stop it from growing any more. The final one was to have the tumour removed surgically. They gave me a one% chance of dying during the surgery but they didn’t tell me of the possible side effects of the surgery. I opted for the surgery and waited most of it a year to be admitted. The symptoms persisted, but the headache grew worse. In 2003 I had surgery. It was a seven-hour operation and was successful. I had extreme vertigo on waking up and vomiting profusely. I was extremely unbalanced and had great difficulty walking to the washroom. Unfortunately, the nurses were unwilling to assist me. When I arrived home, I required assistance in walking to my apartment. I remember walking to the apartment sliding along the walls. I was dizzy and nauseous for weeks afterwards it took me the best part of a year to recover some of my balance.

Recently I suffered a stroke and was admitted.  They did several tests X-ray, Cat scan and MRI.  When they told me the results, they mentioned that the MRI showed I had vascular dementia.  They were very short in telling me the results.  Vascular dementia what is that.  My own GP glossed over the diagnosis.  I am a little foggy in the head these days and did not push the point.  I have since then looked it up on the internet but with results that left me in doubt.  I realize I have diminished capacity but was allowed to go home after numerous testings.  I live alone for six months of the year, and I have a companion for the remainder.  I attend a Brella day program once a week which I enjoy – companionship with similar disabled people. With all the disabilities I have I still maintain my mental self.  I have stopped taking antidepressants. The internet has been a great help in keeping in touch with the outside world.

I am still me.